Less than a week remains in the Northern Section high school football playoffs, and much less for those teams that lose on Friday.

A victory, though, secures a berth in next Wednesday”s finals, and a chance to claim a championship.

Five area teams have that chance in Friday”s semifinals, including two Ð Pleasant Valley and Paradise Ð who square off against one another. That contest is a repeat of an earlier meeting this season, and two other semifinals are return engagements as well. All games are set for 7 p.m. Friday.

No. 5 Pleasant Valley at No. 1 Paradise

After losing at Enterprise 21-7 on Oct. 29, the Vikings (7-4) have won two straight, dealing Foothill its first loss and then beating Corning 14-6 in the first round of the Division I playoffs last Friday.

A third victory would mean Pleasant Valley went to the Ridge and walked away with a victory. But the Vikings haven”t won three straight all season.

Paradise (9-1) had the week off with the first-round bye and hasn”t lost to a team from the section, including beating Pleasant Valley 14-3 on Sept. 17. In that game, the Bobcats ran for 250 yards on 45 carries, an average of 5.55 yards per run.

Against Corning, the Vikings relied on sophomore Josh Kopeck, as the running back ran for 158 yards on 26 carries. Recently, Pleasant Valley has given up trying to have a balanced offense and instead passed sparingly.

On Friday, the front lines of Pleasant Valley”s defense, which includes Jordan Rigsbee, Tyler McMullen, and Geoff Swain, needs to play exceptional to contain Bobcats running back Jordan Dobrich and the rest of the offense.

Prediction: Paradise

Division III

No. 3 Trinity at No. 2 Durham

The host Trojans (8-2) beat Trinity 34-14 in Weaverville on Sept. 24 in the teams” Sacramento Valley League opener.

The third-seeded Wolves routed Esparto 50-6 last week in the first round of the Division III playoffs. Durham, which earned a first-round bye, enjoyed its second week off after its regular season ended Oct. 29 with a 40-8 victory at Mount Shasta.

Last year, the Trojans had a similar break, and they ended up losing to Colusa 28-27 in a Division II semifinal. Will an extended rest doom Durham again?

Trinity wasn”t up to the task back in September, but the Wolves haven”t lost since, reeling off six straight victories. That run includes a 30-14 win at Live Oak, the Lions” lone loss that set up the three-way tie atop the SVL between Durham, Trinity and Live Oak.

Against Trinity, Durham quarterback Nelson Fishback was 15-of-27 passing for 157 yards and one touchdown. But it was the rushing attack that was led by the dual threat Fishback that wore out the Wolves. The Trojans ran 45 times for 229 yards. Fishback had 88 yards, Chris Craven had 75, and Mitch Dodd had 50.

Prediction: Durham

No. 4 Willows at No. 1 Live Oak

These two teams are familiar with each other as they played in regular-season finale, as Live Oak won at Willows 23-15 on Nov. 5.

In that game, the top-seeded Lions (9-1) featured Kaleb Allen, who ran for 143 yards on 23 carries. The Honkers Ð as a team Ð totaled 116 yards on 30 carries. Willows, which relies on its ground game, will need to be much more productive against well-rested Live Oak, which had a bye.

Willows (6-5) routed Williams 46-8 in the first round last week. A,J, Wagenman ran for 127 yards on 12 carries as the Honkers finished with 281 yards on 34 carries. Wagenman, a two-way starter, also led the defense with a team-high 10 tackles.

Defense is what Live Oak knows best, allowing 118 points on the season, an average of 11.8 per game. That ranks the Lions fourth in the section behind Paradise, Lassen and Maxwell in points allowed. The Lions haven”t played since beating Willows, and the rest probably hasn”t dulled their defense.

Prediction: Live Oak

Division IV

No. 4 Hamilton at No. 1 Maxwell

The Braves (7-4) have won five straight, including a 20-12 victory at home against Fall River in the Division IV quarterfinal last week. William Rosen ran for 170 yards on 21 carries. Kyle St. Louis had two sacks to lead the defense.

On Friday, the fourth-seeded Braves go to Maxwell (10-1). The Panthers routed Portola 43-3 in their quarterfinal, and they have rolled through Division IV, only losing at home 23-20 to Williams of Division III in the season opener.

Maxwell has racked up 464 points, the most among schools in the top four divisions that don”t play eight-man football. The Panthers also rank third in points allowed among the same schools at 114 for the section”s best point differential among the top four divisions at 350. That means Maxwell wins by nearly 32 points on average.

Hamilton, however, did win vs. Williams 17-10 on Oct. 8, something Maxwell could not do.